On March 5th, 1770, in protest to the British military occupation of the city, a group of colonists began pelting a lone British soldier - guarding the Boston Customs House - with snowballs and rocks. After calling for help, eight more British soldiers joined the lone guard, providing more targets for the angry crowd. Probably while dodging a snowball, Private Hugh Montgomery slipped, fell and his weapon discharged. Then all hell broke loose as several of the other British soldiers began firing. Within moments five colonists lay dead or dying.
Six British soldiers went on trial for the “massacre” later in the year – famously defended by John Adams - four were acquitted and two were found guilty of manslaughter, subsequently branded on their thumbs and then released. In historical hindsight this was one of those pivotal moments bringing the Revolutionary War another step closer.One wonders – or at least I do – how Adams’ defense of the British soldiers – definitely not popular at the time nor an obvious career enhancing move – squares with Liz Cheney’s paradigm of the rule of law of this country. It’s not as if Mr. Adams disappeared into the historical sunset after this brief moment in a Boston courtroom.
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